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.And it would include avian creatures over twenty-five feet long, and sea creatures over twenty feet long.On land, that distance was cut to forty miles.Only the map's user could activate the magic inherent in the map."The ship is down there?" Baylee asked."A ship is," Uziraff agreed."I can think of no others that would be.From what I have seen in the map, the shipwreck is broken into a number of pieces."Baylee's sudden enthusiasm outweighed even his wariness of the pirate captain."Then it's time we found out." He reached into his bag of holding and found one of the vials he'd gotten from the apothecary.I must admit, Xuxa said, this is the one part of your plan that disturbs me most.I don't like the idea of being separated from you.And you will be out of range of my call should you need me.There's no help for it.Baylee unstoppered the vial and drank deeply.The liquid burned the back of his throat going down, and filled him with a lightness of being that felt almost euphoric."You'll be careful down there, lad," Cthulad said quietly."I think you're the one who has the more dangerous part," Baylee replied."A yard of good steel makes a warrior a mighty good neighbor," the old ranger said."These baying dogs won't dare attack me without feeling they have the upper hand.And Xuxa is waiting in the wings, so to speak, to tilt the scales.""Get a net over the side," Uziraff bellowed.A half-dozen sailors ran to do his bidding, heaving a mass of weighted nets over the side.Baylee looked at the pirate captain."I claim rights of salvage," Uziraff said."You paid me to bring you here, not to transport anything back for you.""I expected no less from you," Baylee replied."All I want is a look."Uziraff looked somewhat troubled by the way the ranger took the announcement.Does he have a clue? Baylee asked Xuxa.That you are lying to him? the azmyth bat asked.No.From his surface thoughts that I have access to, he clearly believes he has the upper hand.Then let him continue thinking that.Baylee stepped to the ship's railing."But don't expect me to load it for you.""I don't." Uziraff took a vial one of his men handed him.He drank it down deeply, then accepted the backpack another gave him."I'm coming with you.Didn't you think I wouldn't have had you followed to the apothecary's to find out what you'd purchased from him?"Instead of answering, Baylee threw himself over the side of the cog.The potion filled him with its magic.He drew in a deep breath, taking oxygen from the water around him as easily as his regular breathing.Also, he found his movements not impeded by the water in any way.The potion counter-acted those effects also.The potion worked just as Vlayn said it would.Moving rapidly, Baylee swam straight down.As well as the potion worked, it would only last an hour, but with the other part of the magic allowing him normal movement even beneath the water, traveling two hundred feet below the ocean's surface was a matter of minutes.Three other splashes sounded in his ears.Normally much of his hearing would have been distorted by the water and the pressure.With the potion active in his system, the sounds were almost normal.He glanced up, spotting Uziraff and two of his men swimming after him.Evidently they'd drank vials of the potion as well.At two thousand gold pieces a potion, the pirate had evidently invested heavily in the expedition.The depth took the light away, turning the water darker.Baylee reached into his bag of holding and took out the other article he'd purchased before leaving Caer Callidyrr.The lantern was small, almost on every corner of the city, but at three hundred gold pieces each, not everyone was going to have them.He opened it, knowing it would be protected by the same magic from the potion as the rest of his gear.The lantern contained magic that filled it with light.He opened the shutter, unleashing a cone of light that shot down through the darkness.He followed it.* * * * *A few moments later, so far from the ship above that everything looked black overhead except for the three pirates following him, Baylee spotted the first coral-covered planks of the shipwreck sticking up from the silt of the ocean floor.Fish moved away from him, curious at first, then afraid.Luckily, none of them were big enough to consider themselves predators.Baylee turned and landed in the silt on his feet.He held the lantern up high, trying to get his bearings.The bulk of the fishing net thrown Windchaser's side was behind him.Uziraff and his companions touched down not far from the ranger's position.Together, they had enough light to penetrate the gloom and illuminate the first few feet of the large ship that protruded from the ocean floor."Gods," Uziraff said, "I've never seen the like.That's an elven ship, isn't it, Baylee?"The thrill of the discovery dulled the fear and wariness in the ranger.He felt the siren call of the ship
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